Topic awaiting preservation: Sony + DRM = Ugly!

Note, very techie but really important to know when it comes to music from that little "tiny" company called Sony and what they think is cool to do...

http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html

"shudder..."
/D

{cell 260} {Blog}
-{"Theories without facts are just religions...?}-

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/01/sony_rootkit_drm/
Been lifted on more places
/D

{cell 260} {Blog}
-{"Theories without facts are just religions...?}-

i didnt read all of the article but i owned a sony netMD player once.
it only allowed you to copy music from original cds once and from mp3s three times to the minidisc.

sony is probably so picky about that, cause they are a record label themselves.

Very interesting and very disconcerting. Not that they are trying to protect their profits (although I would respect them more if they were trying to protect the artists) but that they are doing it in such a subversive way. Just tell us you aren't going to let us copy the damn CD and be done with it. Don't put back door solutions in that are easy enough to work around. I pretty much have an entirely separate sound and video lab attached to my PC. If running the disk on my computer is a problem I have direct conversion from an outside source. Now, I happen to know that I'm doing this for my own benefit; converting albums to CD's VHS to DVD's so I can get rid of a couple pieces of hardware and store my media in a more durable format... someone wanting to get around these DRM measures would certainly be able to do so with the computer and stereo they already have. I just feel sorry for the lay person who doesn't know these techniques and just wants a music library on their computer. My parents-in-law for instance... They aren't devils... they just want music on their computer.

GD

Grumble, the thing isn't about the copy protection, it's that this little mediaplayer you need to use install a bunch of things that are hidden, take up resources and mess with your media playing hardware, such as the cd player even when not playing their cd's! Not only that, they do it in a way that if you find the hidden files you can't remove them without messing up the computer seriously.

Who the heck gave them permission to do that?
If they can hide that, what says that they can't hide things that report back to Sony...

/D

{cell 260} {Blog}
-{"Theories without facts are just religions...?}-

Now this didn't take long...
Carlifornia sues Sony for rootkit on cd's... http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/10/0024259&from=rss

Heh...
/D

{cell 260} {Blog}
-{"Theories without facts are just religions...?}-

^ F*ck yeah! Nail the bleeding ba**ards!

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

Yeah, I know I'm ranting... virusmakers are now using Sonys exploiting rootkit to hide viruses from scanning software: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/10/sony_drm_trojan/

Ain't major companies nice, sort of makes you wonder what M$ might have hidden in the best interest of the company's rights...
/D

{cell 260} {Blog}
-{"Theories without facts are just religions...?}-

Well, Sony has decided to pull it. That didn't take long.

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

The story gets stranger still.

This article, http://dewinter.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=215 claims that the Sony rootkit is in violation of the LGPL because it contains code from LAME and Sony does not publish the source or object files. The implication is that Sony infringes on the copyright of others while producing code to protect their own.

Very weird.

Now if that's true it would probably turn up the heat under the company that built the solution for Sony...
/D

{cell 260} {Blog}
-{"Theories without facts are just religions...?}-

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it does.

Sony DRM infection removal vulnerability uncovered

In short, Sony's removal tool leaves a signed ActiveX control on your box that lets any web site install and run any software on your PC.

Hmmm... Remove a rootkit and leave a big flashing neon sign saying f*** me hard. Bravo Sony!

I'm surprised there isn't more talk about this, quite frankly.

Sony just tried (and almost suceeded) to unknowingly sneak software onto your computer, to monitor what that computer is doing without telling you, and without giving you an option of an EULA or an option of removing it. I don't know about anyone else, but the fact that a company not only was willing to do this, but did impliment it, seriously sends chills down my spine.

It makes me wonder what else is being done of a similar nature.

I hope that the lawsuits running against Sony and the public backlash because of this ram the company really hard where it really hurts - in the pocketbook. Such behavior must not be tolerated!

Now, that the damn thing leaves your computer open wide open to viral infection, etc is just "icing" on the cake

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

quote:

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brucew said:

Hmmm... Remove a rootkit and leave a big flashing neon sign saying f*** me hard. Bravo Sony!

---

I couldn't have put it better myself



You could stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won't back down (Tom Petty)

This is intensly totally unbelievable farked up!

I love the final quote from the Enquirers artickle:

quote:

---

Moral, if you bought Sony products, you are screwed. If it causes you problems, you are screwed more. If you uninstall, you are screwed yet harder. If you uninstall it yourself, you are a criminal under the DMCA. If you use an antivirus program to uninstall it, you spent money to fix Sony's problems, and you are still a criminal. That's what you get for buying music

---

I seriously think there are some high priced lawyers sweating bullets by now
/Dan

{cell 260} {Blog}
-{"Theories without facts are just religions...?}-

I hope they tear a hole in Sony's ass that is so large, that one can comfortably view the Grand Canyon through it for this.

Because first of all, Sony's attitude is sullen and reluctant here (which really pisses me off, not to mention that they have done very wrong things here), but also to be a warning to any other company currently doing such, or thinking about it.

I think $10,000 should about do it for everyone who has had this crap installed on their computer.

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

What I'm waiting to hear is reaction from the artists. They're one group who have been less, erm, vocal on this issue. I know I'd be pretty pissed by both the lost revenue and damage to reputation.

In news this morning,

Governmental TLAs annoyed at Sony
National Security + Rootkit = Fun fun fun

Oh dear. Let's hope the botnets haven't gotten to the launch codes. Spams away!